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The following is an update letter sent out to members of Valley Schools, which include the Valley Schools Employee Benefits Trust (VSEBT), the Valley Schools Workers’ Compensation Pool (VSWCP) and the Valley Schools Insurance Trust (VSIT). Tom Boone is the Chairman and CEO. Congratulations on another outstanding year to the Valley Schools’ team!

Dear Member,

Let me start out by saying that we appreciate having you as a continuing member in Valley Schools. The following are some recent events at Valley Schools that may be of interest to you:

Valley Schools is constantly negotiating with all our providers to save you money on insurance. As a result, effective July 1, 2013, we changed our life insurance carrier to ING. This change saved 21% off basic life insurance rates for all members and includes a three-year rate guarantee. We also changed our Pharmacy Benefits Manager (PBM) to UHC/OptumRX which should result in a reduction of pharmacy costs of about 2%.

The audits for 2012 are complete and we have received an unqualified opinion. An unqualified opinion is the best possible audit outcome, meaning that there are no areas for concern, comment or revision. Since Valley Schools started in 1987, we have had unqualified opinions on all audits, every year. We are proud of our 25 years of clean audit findings. The 2012 audit reports were recently sent to all members.

National healthcare policy is changing rapidly and dramatically. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) passed in 2010 changes nearly every aspect of health delivery in the country. Valley Schools is committed to keeping our members informed and ready for this shifting regulatory landscape. We are providing quarterly briefings for all members to review all aspects of PPACA. We would strongly encourage your human resources, employee benefits staff, or others you may want to participate, to attend these meetings.

Again, for the 2013-14 fiscal year, Valley Schools had 100% retention of all current members. In addition, we welcome the Madison Elementary School District as a new member for FY 2013-14.

You should have already received a copy of our audit results. I am available to you at any time should you have any questions. All of our board meetings are posted and we encourage you to attend when your schedule allows it.